1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to advertising and more particularly to a method and system for user-authorized advertising over communications networks.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, businesses have begun to take advantage of advances in communications technology. Communications networks, such as the Internet, connect millions of people all around the world. These communications networks may permit businesses to send a vast array of information to consumers. One type of information that businesses may send is advertisements. Advertisements may take the form of information about the business, its products and/or its services. Consumers may receive these advertisements on a computer or wireless terminal, for example, connected to the communications networks.
The simplest of all advertisements sent over communications networks may be an electronic mail (“e-mail”) advertisement. The e-mail advertisement is typically a text-message that a business may send to advertise a particular product or service. The e-mail advertisement may have no graphics and limited formatting (e.g., italics and bolding) so that it may be easily transported over the communications networks. The e-mail advertisement is usually addressed, using an “email address,” to a user of a computer. A computer or wireless terminal may receive the e-mail advertisement and may store the e-mail in an “in-box.” The user may then open the “in-box” to read the e-mail advertisement.
If the communications networks to which the computer or wireless terminal is connected effectively transport graphics and animation, businesses may send “banner” advertisements. Banner advertisements typically comprise graphics and/or animation displayed in a web-page. Banner advertisements may stretch across the web-page, similar to how a banner may stretch across a roadway. Unlike traditional advertising methods, banner advertisements may allow a user to interact with the advertisement. The banner advertisement may have a Universal Resource Locator (URL) link. If the user selects (e.g., by “clicking”) the URL of the banner advertisement, the user may obtain additional information about the advertiser and its products or services. A user might not be able to obtain such information from just viewing a television commercial or newspaper advertisement, for example.
Similar to banner advertisements, advertisers may also send pop-up advertisements. Pop-up advertisements are typically web-page advertisements sent over the communications networks. The pop-up advertisement may appear as a window in the foreground of a display screen of the computer or wireless terminal. The window may cover the entire display or a portion of the display. Advertisers may find pop-up advertisements to be effective advertising methods because the pop-up advertisements interrupt the user's activity. By being in the foreground, the user must view the advertisement. Like the banner advertisements, the pop-up advertisement may also have a URL link. The URL may enable a user to obtain additional information about the business and/or its goods and services.